Toy racing game



FIG. 1.

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-FI?ANK AMIGO United States Patent 7 TOY RACING GAME Frank Amino, Rochester, N. Y. Application August 7, 195.3,.Scria1No. 373;,ilfl

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-86) The. present invention relates. to toys and mor particlarly to a toy which simulates he co ditions of a horse 7 race: and which will permit several persons to play simultaneously aracing game simulating a horse'race.

One object of the invention is to provide a game of the character described which is p ayed w th, moya l pl ying pieces simulating race horses and their jockeys, and in which the outcome of the game will be affected by the skill of the several players in, manipulating their respective playing pieces, so as to arouse in the players thrills and excitement similar to those aroused at an actual horse race.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy or game of the character described which will be simple in construction, strong, durable, and not likely to get out of order, and yet which willbe easy to manipulate.

Qther objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital .ofthe appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 is a plan view of a toy constructed according to one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows and showing one of the game pieces and the means for manipulating the same in the at-rest position;

Fig. 4 is a similar fragmentary section but showing how the actuating cord for the game piece, when raised, imparts forward motion to the game piece;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation and Fig. 6 a side elevation on an enlarged scale of one of the game pieces;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the toy on an enlarged scale taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 8 is a section on an enlarged scale on the line 88 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8 looking in the direction of the arrows.

The game of the present invention comprises a base or support 20 (Fig. 7) which is in the form of a rectangular shaped box having a bottom 21, parallel sides 22, 22, parallel ends 23, 23, and a top 24.

The box may be made of heavy cardboard or light wood or of any other suitable material. In the embodiment shown, there are five parallel, elongate, preferably Wood or plastic strips 30 mounted in the top of the box and spaced slightly from one another. These strips are glued or otherwise fastened at their ends to the partitions 45, 45', hereinafter referred to, and are supported intermediate their ends by blocks 32 that rest on the bottom 21 of the box. The narrow, elongate slots 31 between these strips 30 provide guideways in which the playing pieces travel in the playing of the game.

The playing pieces themselves, in the embodiment of the invention shown, are racing figures simulating a horse carrying a jockey and are denoted at 35. The simulated Patented on. 1, 195-7 for feet of he horse ar fi e n a t n. 36; and the s mula ed rea ee of e horse are fixed in a butt n 31- The buttons 36 and 37 are wider than the slots Filbetween the strips 30 so that each; button can rest-on adiasent strips 30. In theembodiment of the. invention illustrated, there, are four slots 31 and four game pieces 35, to travel in these four slots, respectively.

Depending from each button 36 is a wire 38 that passes threugh th a sociated slot 1 and that is ben nsv rsely at its l w r end asdeno ed a 39 (F g 5) to provide a stopto'preventthe playing piece from being thrown out of. it g d lot 31 inplaying; he game- D pendinge mm ea h button .3 s a wire whic s lo ger. han he wire .8 and which s ormedat its lower end with. a oop .3-

The r arr eses fi ad pted ta a n d y a r ling stringssh. he s ver l strings. are de igna e spectiv l-r. we -thereto 0 i E h tr n p s thro gh. a he oen 43st its associated play ng, pie e- It s secured at one end in one endwall of the box and itis qhradh r ts opposite endina p rtition wa l 451x45. These partition walls ar spa ed from the end Wal s .23. -2

' respeetivelytandare par llel thereto. The out ide strings 49a, 40d a e-s cured a t eir left ah ds n th wall 2,3. Pass hr gh apertur s n th pa tition wall 45,' nd are se ured at theirr ght hand ends n-t p r it n all 45.,

wh e th inn r string 40b and 0e'are secure at th ir left ha d ends in h p r i ion 5gpa s hr gh p rtu in he par i i n. wall 45, and are s c r a their righ hand e ds in the end. we l 2.3 of th ox.

The ours rifnss Q ar adapted to lie-a tuate spect vely, by four separate actuatingmemhers 48 (F g v 8 and 9;), two ofwhich are m unt bet e n the pa tition 45 andthe left handend wa l 213 o he box. The o her twO are mounted between the partition wall 45' and the right hand end wall 23' of the box. The actuating members 48 are wire members that are generally U-shaped, and that are mounted to pivot on pins 47 secured at one end in the end walls 23, 23 respectively, and at their opposite ends in the associated partition walls 45, 45, respectively, of the box. The legs 49 of each actuating member engage under one of the strings 40.

The actuating members 48 are adapted to be operated by push buttons 50. There are four of these push buttons disposed, respectively, in the four corners (Fig. 2) of the box to engage the bail portions 51 of the actuating members 48. Each push button is constantly urged to its uppermost position by a coil spring 54 (Fig. 9) which is interposed between a shoulder 55 on the push button and the bottom 21 of the box.

The strings 40 are normally loose. Each game piece ordinarily occupies the position shown in Fig. 3. When the push button associated with a particular game piece is depressed, the legs 49 of the associated actuating member 48 are rocked upwardly about the associated pivot pin 47, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9, lifting the associated string 40 and drawing it tight, as shown in Fig. 4. This lifts the rear end of the playing piece up, rocks it about its front button 36, and imparts to the playing piece a forward motion.

In playing a racing game, each player operates a separate push button 50. For convenience, as shown in Fig. 2, these push buttons may be individually numbered, 1, 2, 3, 4 to correspond to the numbers assigned to the diiferent playing pieces whose starting positions may also be denoted by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, as shown in Fig. 2. Each player manipulates his own push button 50 to advance his own playing piece; and the one Whose playing piece reaches the finish line first wins the race. Since the force and amount of the downward stroke of the pusher button 50 and the rapidity of its operation determines the rate of forward movement of the playing piece, it will be obvious that the game depends upon the skill of the players. it will be obvious that an individual can amuse himself with the game by manipulating the pusher pin in various ways to simulate diiferent gaits of a horse. For instance, by pushing a pusher button 50 downwardly repeatedly at a constant rate, the playing piece can be given simulated galloping motion.

While the invention has been described in connection with a simulated horse racing game, it will be understood that playing pieces may be used instead representing other animals or objects which it is desired to propel along a course.

While the invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof, then, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

A toy comprising a horizontal playing board having a plane top surface with a plurality of parallel, longitudinal slots therethrough, a plurality of playing pieces mounted While the game is primarily a racing game,

on said board, each of said playing pieces being asso- I ciated with one of said longitudinal slots and simulating a horse, each playing piece having front and rear leg portions which normally rest on the top surface of said board, each of said playing pieces having a member depending from its front leg portion which projects through 2 movement to the front leg portions of said pieces resting on said board, said lifting means comprising a plurality of cord-like members, one for each playing piece, each cordlike member being fixedly secured at both its front and its rear end beneath said board in parallelism to one of said slots, a wire depending from the rear leg portion of each of said pieces through its associated slot and having a loop at its lower end through which one of said cord-like members passes, said cord-like members normally being loose, and manually operable means by which the cord-like members can be pulled taut to raise the rear leg portions of the playing pieces, so that when said cord is alternately pulled taut and then loosened the rear legs of said playing piece will move up and down giving said playing piece a galloping, forward motion over the top surface of said board, each of said cord pulling means comprising a vertically-reciprocable manually operable pusher, a pivotal lever mounted beneath said board for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis and in position to be engaged by said pusher when said pusher is actuated and in position to engage beneath one of said cord-like members, whereby when the associated pusher is depressed the associated cord-like member is lifted, there being a separate pusher and associated lever for each playing piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 669,943 Leigh Mar. 12, 1901 849,857 Santen Apr. 9, 1907 FOREIGN PATENTS 472,818 Great Britain Sept. 27, 1937 479,770 Great Britain Feb. 10, 1938 506,694 Great Britain June 2, 1939 

